Free The Thrones of Eden 3 (Eden) by Rick Jones Page A

child who was enfolding himself with his arms crisscrossing in self-embrace. “What the hell did you do?”
    Hillary garbled nonsensical utterances as he pointed to the cobra’s head. Its gemlike eyes were gone.
    “You’re to touch nothing!” yelled Alyssa. “As an archeologist you’re supposed to know that!”
    Hillary was beside himself—a life lost and another trapped, all due to triggering a device that was no larger than a marble. “I didn’t . . . I didn’t—” He cut himself off, not sure how to respond since he was a seasoned vet who had no excuses.
    “This entire facility,” she went on, “is wired for people like us. Places like the temple of Eden and The Chamber of the One were engineered mainly for the high priests who knew every nuance of these structures and knew how to avoid them. They’re protective mechanisms—the first alarm system, if you will—manufactured against those who trespass on territories not meant for anyone outside the ranking of those within the priesthood . . . And that would be us.” After pointing an accusing finger at him, she then added, “And you just broke the cardinal rule, Hillary.” She quickly turned and walked away, leaving Demir to look upon the senior archeologist with eyes teeming with anger.
    Hillary continued to stutter, and then he fell silent, his shoulders slumping in defeat.
    Demir took position beside him and leaned into the old man until his lips were inches from Hilary’s ear. “You’re becoming a major liability,” he stated softly and evenly a moment before he left Hillary to stand alone.
    When Demir joined Savage and Alyssa he had one thought on his mind: abort the mission. “You were right. There’s nothing we can do to combat something like this,” Demir told them, waving a hand to indicate his surroundings. “All the elite commandos and firepower in the world can’t compete against the engineering of this place. We need to get out of here.”
    Alyssa and John agreed. Human curiosity had its place in order to learn and grow. But people were dying, the situation dire.
    Alyssa walked over to the entryway. The causeway was gone and so was the ladder. There was no way up, no way out.
    And below lay the abyss.
    Now they were forced to take the only route available to them.
    Alyssa fell back from the trapezoidal-shaped doorway and flashed her light down the corridor, the beam penetrating so deep, the light pushing back a wall of darkness that seemed to be fighting against the luminosity with an equal and opposite reaction, a stalemate.
    But she knew without a doubt that beyond the veil of darkness the walls and floors shifted into new designs, old configurations resetting themselves to offer new and deadlier challenges for those trespassing within these hallowed halls. The structure itself was compelling them to move forward by offering no other option.
    Now there were sixteen people left, Demir losing half his team in less than two hours.
    And Alyssa could feel the morale melt around her like the tallow of wax—the spirits of those surrounding her becoming as fragile as glass.
    “Ms. Moore.” When Demir spoke it seemed to galvanize her.
    She took a step toward the wall of darkness, her light pressing forward, the shadows pushing back. “We move forward,” was all she said. “In the only direction this facility is allowing us to go in.”
    With two of the Maroon Berets taking point with their assault weapons leveled, Alyssa found little comfort knowing that this structure was much too big and powerful. There were no set of combat skills or military training that could outwit, outmaneuver or overshadow the unseen forces within. Eden had proposed the same fate. But Eden also allowedher the privilege to survive by using her ability to manage her way through riddles, and to solve the ciphers that proffered her with the advantages to move from one level to the next, ultimately leading her to the truth of mans’ origin.
    But this was